HUNTER VALLEY NEWS COLUMN 27 APRIL 2016

Posted by Joel Fitzgibbon257.20sc on April 27, 2016

I will be providing a Mobile Office at Singleton and Muswellbrook tomorrow. Appointments are available or just call in and say hello. Remember, I can deal with issues such as Centrelink, Child Support, Immigration, Medicare, Superannuation, Taxation, Veterans’ Affairs and Telecommunications.

If the worthiness of a Parliamentary session were to be judged on value for money, last week’s session receives a fail. The 150 Members of the House of Representatives travelled back to Canberra for two reasons; we needed to be there to re-open the Parliament and to allow the Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC) Bill to be re-introduced into the House.

The latter is a furphy because the Prime Minister already had two “triggers” for a Double Dissolution. The reality is we all travelled back to Canberra at great expense so that Malcolm Turnbull could make the looming election one about the ABCC because he wants the election to be about trade unions.

The Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue the Parliament broke a thirty nine year drought for the rarely used constitutional mechanism. While it was a legally valid use of Section 5, his motives were questionable.

Be in no doubt, the Prime Minster could have called a double dissolution election for July 2 without calling the Parliament back last week. The millions of dollars the session cost was an unnecessary expense. The Senate had already voted down the ABCC Bill once and there was never any prospect that another vote would have produced a different outcome.

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On Tuesday 9 August 2016, the ABS will conduct the five-yearly Census of Population and Housing.

The Census is a moment for each and every one of us to pause and help shape the future of Australia. It provides a valuable snapshot of our society on Census night.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will soon be looking for motivated and community-spirited Australians from all types of backgrounds who want to make a contribution to their community.

Up to 38,000 Field Officers will be needed across the country to deliver and collect paper forms as well as follow up households who haven’t completed their Census form.